Involving Parents in their Children's Learning

`A unique guide for students, practitioners, parents, and administrators of young children who want to understand specific strategies to maximise parent involvement and collaboration' - Education Libraries

'This is an excellent book that draws extensively on the work of a children's centre that has been running for over 25 years' - SENCO Update

Involving Parents in their Children's Learning is the story of the pioneering work of the Pen Green Centre for children and families. Showing how early years practitioners can collaborate effectively with parents, the book includes case studies of parents and children who have attended the centre, studies which chart developments in learning for both children and parents. The book will inspire early years practitioners and offer them practical advice on ways of developing effective work with parents.

Drawing on their work at the renowned Pen Green Centre, the authors show how to:

o support parents as their child's first educator

o provide practical and psychological support to parents

o involve fathers and male carers

o share important child development concepts

o support and extend children's learning

o reach out to hard-to-reach parents.

This New Edition follows up on the stories of people featured in the first edition, showing how they have progressed over the last few years. It also includes new chapters covering the headteacher's role in developing parental involvement programmes, how the Pen Green model has been applied in primary schools, and the use of parental diaries.

The book is essential reading for students on early years courses (BA, FdA, B.Ed), as well as practising early years professionals and senior management teams in primary schools.